Cranford, Papen Win in Singles and Doubles in Loss for Shoremen
HAVERFORD, PA -- Host Haverford College defeated visiting Washington College, 5-3, in the first round match of the Centennial Conference Men's Tennis Tournament this afternoon. The Fords, who are ranked 11th in the Atlantic South region, improved to 9-9 overall and will play at Johns Hopkins in a conference semifinal match Saturday. The Shoremen, who are ranked 13th in the region, fell to 9-8 with the loss.
Haverford took a 2-1 lead through doubles play. Washington won at No. 1 as senior Adam Cranford (Bel Air, MD/John Carroll) and junior Kevin Papen (Dover, DE/Caesar Rodney) were 8-3 winners over Kevin Caulfield and Danny Himelstein. The Fords took No. 2 as Matthew Cebul and Matt Romei beat junior Aaron Ellison (Largo, FL/St. Petersburg) and junior John Menzione (Chadds Ford, PA/Kennett), 8-3, and No. 3 as Will Garrett and Hailiu Yang were 8-1 winners over freshman Marc Cywinski (Brisbane, Australia/Pendleton [FL]) and freshman Nicolas Campisi (Santa Rosa, Argentina/Highland [UT]).
The Fords captured two of the first three singles matches to finis to extend their lead to 4-2. Andy Dougherty beat junior Kyle Lisco (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North), 6-3, 6-3, at No. 3 and Romei downed Ellison, 6-0, 7-5, at No. 4. Papen was a 6-1, 6-3, winner over Yang at No. 2 for Washington.
Cranford, ranked 19th in the region in singles outlasted Caulfield, the region's 14th-ranked singles player, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 1 to keep the Shoremen in the match. Garrett gave the Fords the win by completing a 6-1, 6-4, win over Menzione at No. 6.
The Shoremen close out their season tomorrow with a 4:00 p.m. non-conference match at The College of New Jersey.
